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This chapter discusses the British hypothesis and savage fear of Hawaiian cannibalism, and the Hawaiian hypothesis and fear of British cannibalism. It focuses on the dialogue between the anxious Hawaiians and the ethnographers on the issue of cannibalism. The chapter discusses Polynesian cannibalism within the complex dialogue between Europeans and Polynesians. This dialogue centered on the history of contact, unequal power relations, and the cultural values, fantasies, and the common dark humanity they share. The discourse on cannibalism, once initiated, affects a variety of cultural...

This chapter discusses the British hypothesis and savage fear of Hawaiian cannibalism, and the Hawaiian hypothesis and fear of British cannibalism. It focuses on the dialogue between the anxious Hawaiians and the ethnographers on the issue of cannibalism. The chapter discusses Polynesian cannibalism within the complex dialogue between Europeans and Polynesians. This dialogue centered on the history of contact, unequal power relations, and the cultural values, fantasies, and the common dark humanity they share. The discourse on cannibalism, once initiated, affects a variety of cultural practices in which it is embedded. A discourse is not a matter of speech alone; it is embedded in a historical and cultural context, and is expressed often in the frame of a scenario or cultural performance. It is about practice: the practice of science, the practice of cannibalism. Insofar as discourse evolves, it begins to affect the practice.